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Ramon Foster: ‘You can’t just be a talker’

Pittsburgh Steelers guard Ramon Foster isn’t a team captain, but he is considered a leader by his teammates.

“When you look at the locker room, Ramon is like the father figure,” said linebacker Jarvis Jones, via Steelers.com. “I am a rookie, so I don’t know how the older guys look at it. But for me he is. He is well respected. One of the best personalities you can have. He is willing to do anything for you, from helping you with any situation, to talking.

“When I first got here he was one of the first people to take me in and show me the city, places to eat. He told me how I need to go about my day as far as preparation, how to take care of my body, all of those things.”

Defensive end Brian Arnfelt credits Foster with helping him adjust to the NFL.

“He talks with me, tells me that wasn’t a good rep or that was a good one,” said Arnfelt. “That’s huge to know what he sees from an offensive line perspective, what I can improve on, what he thinks I can do well. He has been a source of support for me.”

When team captain Maurkice Pouncey was lost for the 2013 season, Foster kept the offensive line moving forward.

“It was a big step for me as far as being a leader,” said Foster to the team’s website. “I had Maurkice go down, we were co-leaders in the room but now I had to be the sole guy in the room to take over, to show the guys and lead the guys in the way we wanted to be.

“You can’t just be a talker. If you are going to be a leader you have to do exactly as you are instructing the guys to do. That is one of my biggest things. I don’t just want to talk about it; I want to show them so they can follow my lead. The guys respect me and I respect them back. I think that is the biggest opponent for being a leader, having the respect of the guys that are around you that you are leading. It was a big step for me. People said I was a great leader, but that is just what I do. I am always trying to encourage guys, show them how it should be done and what is expected. I want to set the bar. Maybe what I am doing here, me and Pouncey are doing, is setting things up for offensive lines down the years.”

Real happy for Ramon Foster. The guy has worked hard to become a very good Guard in this league. He's about to reap the benefits of all his hard work 'cause this line is about to gel big time. They really looked good starting midway through last year. That will carry over this off-season with Munchak in the house.

I hope they can gel using the zone. Munchak seems to think he can easily teach it to them and also said its easy to learn, not sure why they couldn't quite grasp it.

They all know 'the zone'. It's easy to learn and is taught from pee wee (well, maybe not pee wee, lol) jr. high thru high school, etc.. Still is a mystery to me why so many people think its so complicated....I guess its the fault of the media's. They always talk like as if its some new thing that is out now and was never around over the years....

Yeah! This is somewhat of a surprise. I always got the impression that he was just the best of a nothing else there guard bunch and was just hanging on till they could find something, anything else.

Geez! What are they going to do now on Defense. I suspect their possible leader, Mister Ziggy Hood, is no longer here. [I don't think it is necessary to put one of the yellow things in there, is it?]

Of course it is very difficult to have an insight into locker rooms from hundreds of miles away. But usually us casual fans perceive team leaders as being the top players on the club or all pro perennials or possible future HOF types. Anyhow can anyone think of any other players who might have been surprise leaders. How about Rodney Bailey a DE in the early 2000's. I think he had a sack maybe or a couple tackles in 2003 or 2004. Or maybe going back into the late 80's Aaron Jones, I think he was a DE also.

Okay! Just kidding with the above. Actually Foster has been a fine player and an asset. But perceiving him as a team leader was unexpected.

Just to clarify a comment in an earlier thread. The line that Foster replaced a bunch of nothing guards was before the drafting of David DeCastro who I think is developing into one of the top OL in the league. Come to think about it, maybe soon he could be taking a leadership role too.

They all know 'the zone'. It's easy to learn and is taught from pee wee (well, maybe not pee wee, lol) jr. high thru high school, etc.. Still is a mystery to me why so many people think its so complicated....I guess its the fault of the media's. They always talk like as if its some new thing that is out now and was never around over the years....

Thats why I don't understand why they took it away when Pouncey went down 8 plays into the season. I guess because the zone rely's on knowing the guys beside you, tendencies, things like that and they didn't think Velasco had the reps necessary to succeed with others.

Thats why I don't understand why they took it away when Pouncey went down 8 plays into the season. I guess because the zone rely's on knowing the guys beside you, tendencies, things like that and they didn't think Velasco had the reps necessary to succeed with others.

Umm... I think Decastro proved he was the one who couldnt succeed with others.

I read from several sources that DeCastro was pretty depressed after ending Pouncey's season and it took him a month to get over it. So they not only had lost Pouncey; they had another guy who was probably gunshy about the zone scheme. That might have something to do with why they went away from it.